Tony Nicholls
As the London 2012 Olympics approach, people are being advised to work from home yet again, but why isn’t teleworking already the norm?
A recent article posted by BBC news reminded people it still makes sense. The piece questioned why people still travel every day, to a central location, when they could simply roll out of bed and start working from their kitchen tables.
Included in the article were the findings of a recent survey from the Confederation of British Industry, which showed that the number of firms offering at least some teleworking rose from 14% in 2006 to 46% in 2008. Figures released later this month are expected to show the trend continuing.
British Telecom was one of the pioneers. It began a telework scheme in 1986, and now has 15,000 homeworkers out of 92,000 employees. The company argues that homeworkers save it an average of £6,000 a year each, are 20% more productive and take fewer sick days.
At HSBC 15,000 out of the bank’s 35,000 staff in the UK have the ability to work from home. However, that is still less than half the workforce and figures deal only with the means to work from home, they do not indicate full-time home working.
But why aren’t even more people working from home?
Successive governments have pressed employers to bring in more flexible working, which can involve home working. Workers who are carers or parents already have the right to ask their employer for flexible working, although employers are not required to agree to it. That said, during the governments current term, they plan to extend this right to all employees across the board, regardless of circumstance.
This week UK Transport Secretary Philip Hammond called for employees in London to work from home during the Olympics next year. The move – intended to ease transport congestion will surely be welcomed by many in the Capital, at least judging from the figures below.
Another reason for Business travellers to work from home could be the huge increases in travel costs. The average rail fare rose 6.2% this January, well above inflation. When the folks over at ‘Love/Hate travel?’ asked a cross-section of business bloggers, entrepreneurs and commuters how businesses are coping, the results proved particularly interesting.
Travel blogger, Martin Gray, who is looking to change his job as a direct result of the fare rises said,
“My train fares went up by 8% this year, but my annual wage didn’t rise. I tried to work remotely but my employer was against it, even though it’s a progressive dot com. As a result I’m now looking for a job closer to home.”
When Telework Association and Wisework Ltd. surveyed 350 people asking how confident they were about their productivity when working from home, more than half were definitely sure they were more productive (table 1).
Participants were also asked whether they agreed with statements on a list of possible reasons for increased productivity; almost all agreed that the elimination of commuting was a contributor (table 2).
So, with travel costs increasing and the opportunity to be more productive (not to mention less stressed) working from home – why are people still opposed to this idea?
Do you work from home? If so, how do you find it? What are the pros and cons?
Would you like to work from home? If so, why don’t you? Is the company you work for opposed to it?
We’d love to hear from you. Don’t be shy.
Shaz Manelli
